Hurricane Tomas' impact on Saint Vincent

Saint Vincent, November 8th 2010 - It was an experience that she would never forget. This was how 31 year old Dezon Jackson one of the two families that still reside at the Langley Park Government School in St. Vincent described the passage of hurricane Tomas over the island of St. Vincent on Saturday 30th October.

“ I was inside my house when I saw the galvanise [roof] starting to lift;:I was so scared” she said. Recognising that the roof was about to blow off and they would be hurt Dezon, carrying her 18 month old baby and 11 year old son “ran for her life” to a nearby friend’s house for safety.

However the place she thought was safe proved to be just as unsafe as hers. While at her friend’s bedroom, the roof also sought to lift up under the 70 miles per hour winds of Tomas forcing her to take her family to the Langley Park school where she and her family have been residing for almost a week.

“These are all we were able to save,” said her son Jahene, as he pointed to the bags on a nearby desk. “All of my clothes, school books and other belongings were damaged.” He added sadly.

For Dezon, her main preoccupation now is getting materials to get her house fix so that she could return home and for her son to be able to get the things “he needs to return to school.”

Jahene, Dezon's son, pointing at the belongings his family managed to salvage after the Hurricane

But hope is not lost as the community spirit characteristics of Vincentian people have been prevailing. Dezon noted that during the past week “the guys from her community have been lending a helping hand and helping her to fix her house to get it in a liveable condition”.

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